Children Pastimes

Everyone is fond of his or her childhood. It is a time when we are most energetic, ambitious, and playful. Most children are very active learners, and what activities or pastimes they indulge in can often shape their professional career and personal tastes in the future. Hence it is no surprise that as society is changing we have seen changing trends not only in adult activities but also in children’s pastimes. In fact this change is so extreme that many parents complain that they cannot relate to their children or participate in activities with them. There is a growing barrier between parents and their children because children nowadays seem to have a whole separate niche in the world. They are no longer just part of the family, but also targeted consumers of toys, foods, and collectibles. Children have become more demanding than ever because they are easy targets to marketing. Marketing strategies carry on not only in the development of products for children, but also hugely invested children’s amusement parks such as Disney World and Lego Land. With such changes taking place at such a rapid scale, children’s pastimes today have become immensely different from what were children’s pastimes yesterday.

It was only a few years ago that traditional children’s games such as Hopscotch, Dodge Ball, Hide And Seek, Tag, Doctor, I Spy, and many other games were the most popular amongst children. Amongst these Tag was undoubtedly one of the most popular games because of its simplicity and excitement. In Tag a child is required to catch another child and call “tag!” Hopscotch was one of the games that was frequently played in playgrounds in which the children were required to throw a rock and then hop to get it. In Dodge Ball, children would be divided into teams that would try to hit each other with a ball. Hide And Seek was similar to tag but the catcher would not just catch the others but also have to find them first. Another popular version of Hide And Seek was Darkroom, which was just like Hide And Seek but played in the dark. Doctor was one of the many popular pretend games played by children in the yesteryears. I Spy was a clue game in which one child would see an object and then describe it by saying “I spy with my little eye something …” The other children would then try to guess the object using the given clues.

Many adults now find it sad that today’s children do not play these old games as commonly as them. Instead, children are now more involved in watching TV or playing video games. With the ascent of the virtual world, children’s pastimes have also become more remote-controlled rather than actual physical activities. Children are also less interactive with each other and more interactive with their toys. They spend more time playing on their own instead of playing games or simply talking to each other. Children also feel secluded from their parents who work long job hours.

Although some areas of the world still participate actively in keeping traditional children’s pastimes alive, it is unfortunately the more developed countries that are seeing the decline of these old and enjoyable children’s pastimes. Parents are trying to stop spoiling their children with toys and instead spend more time with them and help them make new friends. In this way they hope to revive traditional children’s pastimes that will help them communicate with their child as well as keep them healthier.